Trump's campaign is under investigation for possible hidden dealings with Russia and a possible conspiracy to violate campaign-finance laws.

Trump's administration has been beset with a shocking number of scandals of various types.

Trump is currently being sued for allegedly violating the Constitution's emoluments clause, since foreign governments are directing money his way by booking large numbers of rooms and holding events at his properties.

The Attorney-General of New York is seeking to have the Trump Foundation dissolved, citing a pattern of "persistently illegal conduct" that made the foundation little more than a scam devoted to self-dealing.

In October, it was revealed in an exhaustively documented investigation that Trump, his father and his siblings engaged in a conspiracy to commit tax fraud on an absolutely epic scale, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump repeatedly misled buyers and investors about properties they were developing in order to acquire funding and pump up sales.

Now those secret service agents are supposed to be there to protect HIM. Would you not think that Trump could at least curb his grasping ambition to wring as much cash out of his presidency and allow the Secret Service men to use the golf carts for free?

A person allegedly as wealthy as Trump can afford to be more generous.

But Neverfail EVERYONE who accuses Trump of anything is part of the corrupt cabal that is ruining America!

Don't you see? The justice department, the intelligence agencies and all of the Democrats are hopelessly corrupt, that's why they keep investigating and charging and convicting so many of his associates.

For example, the article above mentions the prosecution of his charitable organization, yet the Clinton Foundation is accused of far worse. However, the corrupt courts are only charging his charity! For most Republicans this proves that the Clintons are corrupt and Trump is not.

Of course it must be that the 'establishment' corruption is the cause, not the silly official explanation that there's no evidence at all that Clinton Foundation did anything criminal!

You have to admire the propaganda coming out of the Republicans these days; Orwell would be proud.

But Neverfail EVERYONE who accuses Trump of anything is part of the corrupt cabal that is ruining America!

Don't you see? The justice department, the intelligence agencies and all of the Democrats are hopelessly corrupt, that's why they keep investigating and charging and convicting so many of his associates.

For example, the article above mentions the prosecution of his charitable organization, yet the Clinton Foundation is accused of far worse. However, the corrupt courts are only charging his charity! For most Republicans this proves that the Clintons are corrupt and Trump is not.

Of course it must be that the 'establishment' corruption is the cause, not the silly official explanation that there's no evidence at all that Clinton Foundation did anything criminal!

You have to admire the propaganda coming out of the Republicans these days; Orwell would be proud.

Milo

I recognised this article as being highly accusative in tone and content even before I re-published it on this website. But it was published in The Washington Post and I presumed that Paul Waldman, the author, would be a journalist employed by the Post. Am I wrong?

“"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros

But Neverfail EVERYONE who accuses Trump of anything is part of the corrupt cabal that is ruining America!

Don't you see? The justice department, the intelligence agencies and all of the Democrats are hopelessly corrupt, that's why they keep investigating and charging and convicting so many of his associates.

For example, the article above mentions the prosecution of his charitable organization, yet the Clinton Foundation is accused of far worse. However, the corrupt courts are only charging his charity! For most Republicans this proves that the Clintons are corrupt and Trump is not.

Of course it must be that the 'establishment' corruption is the cause, not the silly official explanation that there's no evidence at all that Clinton Foundation did anything criminal!

You have to admire the propaganda coming out of the Republicans these days; Orwell would be proud.

Milo

I recognised this article as being highly accusative in tone and content even before I re-published it on this website. But it was published in The Washington Post and I presumed that Paul Waldman, the author, would be a journalist employed by the Post. Am I wrong?

Do you know something about him that I don't?

The article you posted s accurate Neverfail but I was ruefully describing the counter to it, a counter that way too many people take seriously.

The dissolution of President Donald Trump's charity resolves one element of the attorney general's civil lawsuit against the foundation, which includes claims that the President and his children violated campaign finance laws and abused its tax-exempt status.

The lawsuit will continue in court because it also seeks two other outcomes: $2.8 million in restitution, plus penalties, and a ban on Trump and his three eldest children serving on the board of any other New York nonprofit.

"Our petition detailed a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation -- including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more. This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump's business and political interests," Underwood said in a statement Tuesday.

"This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone," Underwood said. "We'll continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law."

The dissolution of President Donald Trump's charity resolves one element of the attorney general's civil lawsuit against the foundation, which includes claims that the President and his children violated campaign finance laws and abused its tax-exempt status.

The lawsuit will continue in court because it also seeks two other outcomes: $2.8 million in restitution, plus penalties, and a ban on Trump and his three eldest children serving on the board of any other New York nonprofit.

"Our petition detailed a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation -- including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more. This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump's business and political interests," Underwood said in a statement Tuesday.

"This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone," Underwood said. "We'll continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law."

“"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros

The dissolution of President Donald Trump's charity resolves one element of the attorney general's civil lawsuit against the foundation, which includes claims that the President and his children violated campaign finance laws and abused its tax-exempt status.

The lawsuit will continue in court because it also seeks two other outcomes: $2.8 million in restitution, plus penalties, and a ban on Trump and his three eldest children serving on the board of any other New York nonprofit.

"Our petition detailed a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation -- including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more. This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump's business and political interests," Underwood said in a statement Tuesday.

"This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone," Underwood said. "We'll continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law."

The dissolution of President Donald Trump's charity resolves one element of the attorney general's civil lawsuit against the foundation, which includes claims that the President and his children violated campaign finance laws and abused its tax-exempt status.

The lawsuit will continue in court because it also seeks two other outcomes: $2.8 million in restitution, plus penalties, and a ban on Trump and his three eldest children serving on the board of any other New York nonprofit.

"Our petition detailed a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation -- including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more. This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump's business and political interests," Underwood said in a statement Tuesday.

"This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone," Underwood said. "We'll continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law."

Sure it hasn't SURE If there really was one set of rules for everyone the Clintons would be face 1,000 year jail sentences each. Yet the federal bureaucracy refuses to do much about it. To bad for the Clintons that the IRS, by law, has to reward Financial bounty hunters with a large portion of any back taxes collected.

The Clinton Foundation operated as a foreign agent ‘early in its life’ and ‘throughout it’s existence’ and did not operate as a 501c3 charitable foundation as required by its and is not entitled to its status as a nonprofit, alleged two highly qualified forensic investigators, accompanied by three other investigators, said in explosive testimony Thursday to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

John Moynihan and Lawerence W. Doyle, both graduates of the Catholic Jesuit College of the Holy Cross and former expert forensic government investigators, gave their shocking testimony before congress based on a nearly two-year investigation into the foundation’s work both nationally and internationally. They were assisted by three other highly trained experts in taxation law and financial forensic investigations. The forensic investigators stressed that they obtained all the documentation on the foundation legally and through Freedom of Information Request Acts from the IRS and other agencies.

The investigation clearly demonstrates that the foundation was not a charitable organization per se, but in point of fact was a closely held family partnership

Former Utah U.S. Attorney General John Huber, who resigned when he was appointed by former Department of Justice Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate the Clinton Foundation and the issues surrounding the approval to sell 20 percent of U.S. Uranium assets to Russia, declined to attend the hearing. Chairman Mark Meadows, R-NC, who oversaw the hearing stated that it was disappointing that Huber declined, leaving Congress in the dark regarding the DOJ’s investigation.

Investigations into the Clinton Foundation have always been plagued by politics but Moynihan wanted to make clear in his opening statement that this investigation was one of many his firm has conducted on nonprofits and had nothing to do with politics.

Doyle and Moynihan have amassed 6,000 documents in their nearly two-year investigation through their private firm MDA Analytics LLC. The documents were turned over more than a year and a half ago to the IRS, according to John Solomon, who first published the report last week in The Hill.

“The investigation clearly demonstrates that the foundation was not a charitable organization per se, but in point of fact was a closely held family partnership,” said Doyle, who formerly worked on Wall Street and has been involved with finance for the last ten years conducting investigations. “As such, it was governed in a fashion in which it sought in large measure to advance the personal interests of its principles as detailed within the financial analysis of this submission and further confirmed within the supporting documentation and evidence section.”

At the onset of the hearing, Moynihan wanted to make perfectly clear that the intention to look into the Clinton Foundation was not political but based on their work with the firm.

“At this point, I’d like to answer two questions, who are we? We are apolitical,” Moynihan told the committee. “We have no party affiliation to this whatsoever, No one has financed us… we are forensic investigators that approached this effort in a nonpartisan profession, objective, and independent way…we follow facts, that’s all.”

“We have never been partisan,” he added, speaking on behalf of all five members of his group testifying to Congress. “We come from law enforcement and wall street where each of us has dedicated our entire lives and praised the rule of law doing the right thing pursuing facts. we follow facts. that’s all.”

“None of this is our opinion,” he went on state: “I emphasize none of this is our opinion. These are not our facts. They are not your facts. They are the facts of the Clinton Foundation.”

He disclosed the reason his firm decided to take on the Clinton Foundation and the fact that they paid for the investigation out of their “own pockets.”

“Are you doing this for money,” said Moynihan to the committee. “Yes, this is how we make a living.”

Moynihan and Doyle swapped back and forth between there testimony and opening statement, making it clear they were working as a team. But the most shocking statements came from Moynihan’s statement as he read the laundry list of violations by the Clinton Foundation.

Moynihan stated “Foreign agent,” as he began to read from a long list of violations discovered during the course of their investigation.

Who’s minding the store, looking out for the donors and minding the rule of law?

The Clinton Foundation “began acting as an agent of foreign governments ‘early in its life’ and throughout its existence. As such, the foundation should’ve registered under FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act),” he said. “Ultimately, the Foundation and its auditors conceded in formal submissions that it did operate as a (foreign) agent, therefore the foundation is not entitled to its 501c3 tax-exempt privileges as outlined in IRS 170 (c)2.”

Doyle, who was also outlining a litany of violations by the foundation, noted that currently there are approximately 1.75 million nonprofits in the United States that annually generate nearly 2 trillion dollars, which is 9 percent of the U.S. GDP.

“Who’s minding the store, looking out for the donors and minding the rule of law,” said Doyle.

“On that note, we followed the money so we made extensive spreadsheets of their revenues and expenses, we analyzed their income statements and we did a macro-review of all the donors, which is a very (jumbled) sort of foundation,” said Doyle. “Less than 1/10th of one percent of the donors gave 80 percent of the money. So we follow the money.”

Moynihan added that the foundation “did pursue programs and activities for which it had neither sought nor achieved permission to undertake.”

Particularly, he noted the case of the Clinton Presidential Library in 2004. He noted that the foundation’s role before and after the library was built was a misrepresentation to donors “of the approval organizational tax status to raise funds for the presidential library programs therein. In these pursuits, the foundation failed the organizational and operational task 501c3 internal revenue code 7.25.3.”

Additionally, Doyle stated that the foundation’s intentional “misuse of donated public funds.” He stated that the foundation “falsely attested that it received funds and used them for charitable purposes which were in fact not the case. Rather the foundation pursued in an array of activities both domestically and abroad.”

“Some may be deemed philanthropic, albeit unimproved, while other much larger in scope are properly characterized as profit-oriented and taxable undertakings of private enterprise again failing the operational tests philanthropy referenced above,” Doyle said.

Philip Hackney, a tax law professor at Louisiana State University, who is a former Exempt Organizations lawyer at the IRS, and Tom Fitton, president of the conservative government watchdog group Judicial Watch also testified at the hearing. Judicial Watch has been at the forefront of fighting the Clinton Foundation in court to access documents requested by FOIA. Hackney and Fitton testified during the first panel of the hearing.

“"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros

John Moynihan and Larry Doyle, financial analysts who say they have uncovered evidence of pay-to-play and financial crimes at the Clinton Foundation, were invited to testify on their findings by the House Oversight Committee’s Republican Chairman Mark Meadows.

But tensions erupted between Meadows and the two witnesses after Moynihan and Doyle refused to turn over 6,000 pages of documents that they say back up their claims — documents that the pair has already given to the FBI and the IRS.

“If you’re not going to share [the documents] with the committee and cut to the chase, my patience is running out,” said Meadows. After consulting briefly with their attorney, who was present, Moynihan and Doyle said they still would not turn over their report but would answer questions about it.

Moynihan is a private financial investigator whose online biography says he previously worked for the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Agency. Doyle said he went into financial investigation after a career on Wall Street.

During their testimony, Moynihan and Doyle said they carried out an extensive forensic investigation of the Clinton Foundation based on public records, tax filings, and private interviews with Clinton Foundation officials. The investigators said Clinton Foundation CFO Andrew Kessel admitted to them in a taped conversation that Bill Clinton used the foundation’s bank accounts for personal expenses.

“He told us that Mr. Clinton mixed and matched his personal business with that of the foundation,” said Moynihan.

They also said they viewed foundation emails from 2002 discussing deals with the government of Mozambique. Moynihan said this was evidence that the Clinton Foundation was working on behalf of foreign governments even though the foundation’s stated mission in IRS filings at the time was to build Bill Clinton’s presidential library.

“The foundation began working as an agent of a foreign government early in its life and continued” to do so, said Moynihan.

Moynihan and Doyle said they could not turn over the documents from their investigation to the committee because they did not want to infringe on ongoing investigations at government agencies.

They said they hope to make money off their investigation and have turned over the documents to the IRS as part of a “probable cause” submission. The IRS does sometimes pay whistleblowers and tipsters from taxes they recoup in such cases.

But Meadows questioned that explanation, saying he spoke to the IRS before the hearing and was told the witnesses’ work with the committee would have no impact on the status of the IRS investigation. “I don’t find how [refusing to turn over information] provides a good foundation for truth and transparency,” said Meadows.

Republican Rep. Jody Hice also criticized the witnesses. “I feel like you’re using us for your own benefit,” said Hice, adding that there was a “little game going on here.”

Moynihan argued that he and Doyle were invited to the hearing and would have happily not attended. “Let me be very clear. You invited us. If you don’t want us, disinvite us,” he said.

Moynihan added that there was no benefit to sharing the documents with the committee because congress doesn’t have law enforcement capabilities. “That’s why we presented to government agencies, which you’re not,” said Moynihan. Meadows promised to subpoena the documents from his witnesses.

“Don’t get cute with me,” he told Moynihan. “I thought you said you were all about the rule of law, all about the truth.”

Thursday’s hearing will be the last one led this year by Meadows, who will hand over the chairman’s gavel to the incoming House Democratic majority at the beginning of 2019.

Meadows said the hearing was necessary in light of news that the foundation’s donations plummeted by 58 percent after Hillary Clinton lost the election. The drop in contributions "could suggest pay to play activity in the years prior to the decrease in donations," said Meadows.

Meadows also expressed disappointment that the Department of Justice declined to send U.S. Attorney John Huber, who is reportedly investigating the foundation, to testify on Thursday.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, the ranking Democrat on the committee, objected to the hearing as a rehash of "conspiracy theories."

"It’s two weeks before Christmas and my Republican friends are re-gifting an old trope that needs desperate reworking," said Connolly.

John Moynihan and Larry Doyle, financial analysts who say they have uncovered evidence of pay-to-play and financial crimes at the Clinton Foundation, were invited to testify on their findings by the House Oversight Committee’s Republican Chairman Mark Meadows.

But tensions erupted between Meadows and the two witnesses after Moynihan and Doyle refused to turn over 6,000 pages of documents that they say back up their claims — documents that the pair has already given to the FBI and the IRS.

“If you’re not going to share [the documents] with the committee and cut to the chase, my patience is running out,” said Meadows. After consulting briefly with their attorney, who was present, Moynihan and Doyle said they still would not turn over their report but would answer questions about it.

Moynihan is a private financial investigator whose online biography says he previously worked for the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Agency. Doyle said he went into financial investigation after a career on Wall Street.

During their testimony, Moynihan and Doyle said they carried out an extensive forensic investigation of the Clinton Foundation based on public records, tax filings, and private interviews with Clinton Foundation officials. The investigators said Clinton Foundation CFO Andrew Kessel admitted to them in a taped conversation that Bill Clinton used the foundation’s bank accounts for personal expenses.

“He told us that Mr. Clinton mixed and matched his personal business with that of the foundation,” said Moynihan.

They also said they viewed foundation emails from 2002 discussing deals with the government of Mozambique. Moynihan said this was evidence that the Clinton Foundation was working on behalf of foreign governments even though the foundation’s stated mission in IRS filings at the time was to build Bill Clinton’s presidential library.

“The foundation began working as an agent of a foreign government early in its life and continued” to do so, said Moynihan.

Moynihan and Doyle said they could not turn over the documents from their investigation to the committee because they did not want to infringe on ongoing investigations at government agencies.

They said they hope to make money off their investigation and have turned over the documents to the IRS as part of a “probable cause” submission. The IRS does sometimes pay whistleblowers and tipsters from taxes they recoup in such cases.

But Meadows questioned that explanation, saying he spoke to the IRS before the hearing and was told the witnesses’ work with the committee would have no impact on the status of the IRS investigation. “I don’t find how [refusing to turn over information] provides a good foundation for truth and transparency,” said Meadows.

Republican Rep. Jody Hice also criticized the witnesses. “I feel like you’re using us for your own benefit,” said Hice, adding that there was a “little game going on here.”

Moynihan argued that he and Doyle were invited to the hearing and would have happily not attended. “Let me be very clear. You invited us. If you don’t want us, disinvite us,” he said.

Moynihan added that there was no benefit to sharing the documents with the committee because congress doesn’t have law enforcement capabilities. “That’s why we presented to government agencies, which you’re not,” said Moynihan. Meadows promised to subpoena the documents from his witnesses.

“Don’t get cute with me,” he told Moynihan. “I thought you said you were all about the rule of law, all about the truth.”

Thursday’s hearing will be the last one led this year by Meadows, who will hand over the chairman’s gavel to the incoming House Democratic majority at the beginning of 2019.

Meadows said the hearing was necessary in light of news that the foundation’s donations plummeted by 58 percent after Hillary Clinton lost the election. The drop in contributions "could suggest pay to play activity in the years prior to the decrease in donations," said Meadows.

Meadows also expressed disappointment that the Department of Justice declined to send U.S. Attorney John Huber, who is reportedly investigating the foundation, to testify on Thursday.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, the ranking Democrat on the committee, objected to the hearing as a rehash of "conspiracy theories."

"It’s two weeks before Christmas and my Republican friends are re-gifting an old trope that needs desperate reworking," said Connolly.

Transcripts of former FBI Director James Comey's closed-door testimony before House Republicans has raised questions over how Barack Obama could have determined that Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server didn't imperil national security if the FBI never briefed him on the investigation.

In a second meeting this month with lawmakers, Comey was asked about remarks former President Obama made during a “60 Minutes” interview in October 2015.

Obama said of the email matter that it wasn't "a situation in which America’s national security was endangered,” and that Clinton never appeared to hide anything.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-SC., asked Comey if he had ever spoken with Obama about the Clinton email investigation, to which the ex-FBI chief replied, “No.” He said he never directed anyone at the bureau to do so either.

“"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros